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| A.K.A "Life in the Slow Lane" - This is the shirt that got Berg Sportswear into the printing business. We never actually printed this shirt. In 1983 or so we weren't printing shirts yet. We (Dad and I) bought the Moose in Hammock shirt from another screen printer and sold them at the Skowhegan State Fair. The shirt sold super. It gave us the motivation to buy our own equipment and print our own shirts. |
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| The very first Single shirt that ever came off a Berg Sportswear Printing press. It was part of our "learning curve"! It was a Large, Tan, t-shirt with a map of Maine and a star where Augusta was. It turned into a very popular idea and we sold it to many towns for several years. |
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| Dexter/MT. View Championships |
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| From 1985. This was the year we had two competing schools buying many shirts from us. At the State Championship Basketball game at the Augusta civic center one side was green with Mt View Mustangs Shirts; the other side was red with Dexter Tigers Shirts. We didn't know what to wear to the game with out showing favoritism. My father Ralph Berg came up with a clever idea. We cut some Mt View Shirts and Dexter shirts in ?, and then sewed them back together so the front was Dexter Red, and the back was Mt View green!! Very unusual shirt. |
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| From 1987. Simple Sells. This is one of the simplest, easiest printing designs we have, yet it continues to be one of our best sellers year after year. |
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| From 1987. One of the best selling and most enduring designs we do. Very popular with locals and tourists alike. This is OUR DESIGN. We bought the copyrights to it back in 1987 or so. Many other screen printers have bootlegged and copied this design from us. Still part of our regular line that we sell every day. |
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| The Beautiful Downtown Shirts |
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| From 1987. Also one of our most popular and enduring shirts. This idea came from Billy Deschais in Jay, Maine. He and Ralph Berg were shooting the breeze one day, and decided to print a few "Beautiful Downtown Jay, Maine" T-shirts. It turned out be immensely popular. We have since done this design for well over 1500 towns in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. |
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| Bruce The Dental Floss Moose |
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| From 1989. The 1st big run (6000 pcs) we did on our new automatic press. Was done on screen Stars Basics T-Shirts for a dentist in New York. |
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When the troops were sent to Kuwait in 1990 all the same controversies arose. We were not going to get involved with making money off the war and its related heartaches. BUT, the demand was overwhelming; people were calling US, begging us to come with a shirt for the war.
Many ideas were tossed around, "good luck boys", "Good luck Men & Women", "come home safe", "kill em all", "Nuke em all" Etc. Finally it was decided on "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" It is very possible that this was the origin of this now universal phrase that has become a part of American language.
We printed this design for approx 3 weeks!! Doing 100-200 dz per day!! |
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| U Maine National Hockey Champs |
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| From 1993. University of Maine's 1st National Sports Championship created quite a stir. Berg Sportswear is licensed Printer of U MAINE apparel. So we fired up the presses and sold many shirts. |
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| God Bless America 9-11-01 |
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From 2001. This shirt was a result of the World Trade Center bombings. Once again we were not out to profit from the suffering of others. But I had people complaining at me, because I wasn't going to print a shirt for them use to show their support for the USA.
Due to overwhelming demand we started printing shirts. Sales were great and we printed lots of shirts. As a result Berg sportswear donated $911.01 to the New York City Fire Dept. |
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From Howie Carr, 2001. This is the very 1st shirt done for The Howie Carr Show. The shirt was done to squelch the persistence of a close friend, who insisted that Howie need something to go along with the topic of the popular ?Daisy Cutter? bomb that everybody wanted to drop on Iraq.
The design was decided in a 10 minute phone call between me and the art dept on a Thursday morning (I was on the road on a separate selling trip). By that afternoon the shirts were printed and sent (NEXT DAY AIR) to Howie Carr's radio station. I just sent a note stating that ?I heard the Daisy Cutter was a popular subject, here's some free shirts have some fun!? Friday Howie opened the box and was thrilled! He started mentioning it on his show that afternoon and the rest is history. We received calls from all over the country. Not only were the calls to buy shirts, but the calls also thanked Berg Sportswear many times over, for showing support for the troops and having the courage to do so in spite of the controversies surrounding war. |
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| Registered Maine Poacher Hat |
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From 2002.By far the #1 selling hat we've ever had. Deemed a little offensive to the Maine Warden Service and The Registered Maine Guide's of the State. It was banned in several locations.
This was not our original design. It was acquired in a Trade with Frank Spizuco owner of Maine Military Supply, Newport Maine. Many Thanks to Frank, for letting me print this design.
For the record, Berg Sportswear does NOT encourage or support illegal poaching of Maine wildlife. We only continue to print this hat due to public demand.
"My apologies to the Maine Warden Service and the Real Registered Maine Guides. I respect both of your professions, and admire the work you do for our great state of Maine. This is all just in fun, the good ol'boys in Maine really love this design and I must provide it to them. I'm sorry if you take it the wrong way. If there is anything I can do to help either of your organizations, please feel free to call me. ~ Robert Berg, (207) 278-7740." |
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"Mother Of All Bombs", "Massive Ordinance Air Blast". From Howie Carr, 2003. Thank you Howie Carr!
This is the biggie. By far the most popular and far reaching shirt that Berg Sportswear has ever created. It was an offshoot of the Daisy Cutter Phenomenon, only much bigger. The MOAB itself was a bigger and more powerful bomb also.
Sandy (from the Howie Carr Show) called us, and asked us to come up with something to do with the MOAB bomb the largest conventional non nuclear device ever developed. Again the design was conceived, developed and sent out in the same day. Howie and Sandy absolutely loved it and put on the radio the next day. Then all Hell broke loose.
We received calls from all over the country. Our phone lines were jammed until 7 and 8 o'clock every night. We hired extra help, it was amazing. We couldn't print them fast enough.
There were several newspaper articles and Television Interviews showcasing the Phenomenon of the MOAB shirt and the Berg Sportswear/Howie Carr relationship. It was a controversial shirt to say the least. People accused us of being war mongers, and wanting to solve all problems through the use of Bombs and war, making money off the war etc. There were a couple negative editorials published in the newspaper. But the majority of the public wrote back supporting everything that we had done for the troops.
The support our troop's crowd was very thankful that we had the courage and the will to show our support |
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| Support Our Troops (with Flag) |
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From 2003. Also related to the MOAB. We printed as many of these shirts as the MOAB maybe more. This shirt didn't offend anybody. It was a very subtle, and soft way to show support for the troops with out the "Bomb em' all attitude". These shirts were very popular at the Bangor International Airport. The "Troop Greeters" gave them to returning troops as they got off the planes after returning from Iraq.
We donated many shirts to VFWs and other Military people we came in contact with. These proceeds from these shirts also contributed to the $2000 donation(s) we made to the VFW's |
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| From 2004. Mentioned several times in the newspaper, through articles and editorials. Was related to the November 2004 referendum concerning using bait to lure bears so hunters can shoot them. The referendum was defeated and the bear hunters won!! |
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Here are a few of the other shirts we're proud of:
- Clyde The Camel/Howie Carr Shirt
- P.E.T.A.
- Pay back IS a B---
- State Seal
- Population
- Moose Breath Saloon
- Berg Halloween Shirt
- Bob Berg "Chop Chop" Shirt
- Berg Racing Team
- Berg guide Service Hat
- Berg Baptist Church Hat
- Pot Belly
- Back Off Flatlander
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